System and method for targeting users for content delivery

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems and computer program products are provided for targeting users for content provision. In one method, the method receives at a server, one or more content objects and one or more ZIP+4 codes as targeting parameters for the one or more content objects. The method retrieves personal information of a plurality of users. The method then identifies one or more of the plurality of users located in geographic areas corresponding to the one or more ZIP+4 codes based, at least in part, on the personal information. Subsequently, the method targets a content object of the one or more content objects to the one or more of the plurality of users based on the identified geographic areas of the users and the ZIP+4 codes associated with corresponding ones of the one or more content objects.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.12/699,150 filed on Feb. 3, 2010, which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to online targeted contentdelivery.

BACKGROUND

The internet is a powerful tool for marketers to reach out to a largeaudience. The internet provides powerful targeted content provisionmethods such as contextual targeting, behavioral targeting,psychographic targeting, demographic targeting, geographic targeting andthe like. Targeted content provision methods enable marketers to reachout to the relevant audience and thus improve their conversion rates,while keeping marketing costs in check.

Geographic targeting, also called geo-targeting or geo-marketing is themethod of determining the geographic location (the physical location) ofa website visitor and delivering different content to that visitor basedon his or her location, such as country, region/state, city, metrocode/zip code. The geographic location of the website visitor may bederived using information such as Internet Protocol (IP) address,Internet Service Provider (ISP), traceroute, and the like. Suchinformation may be derived from click stream data, cookies, Hyper TextTransfer Protocol (HTTP) request headers, server traffic logs.

However, such methods to determine the geographic location may becomplex, computing intensive and often inaccurate. IP addresses areconstantly being assigned, allocated, reallocated, moved and changed dueto changes in internet infrastructure, users having IP addressesdynamically assigned or users moving from one network to another, and soforth. In order to keep up with these changes IP spidering and finelytuned delivery mechanisms may be employed. IP spidering includes complexalgorithms, bandwidth measurement and mapping technology to periodicallyidentify IP address changes.

Further, marketers may desire to exchange information about customersthat they have in common. This may help the marketers to augment theirknowledge of their customers and thus improve geographic targeting.However, the information about customers, specifically PersonallyIdentifiable Information (PII) of the customers, held by marketers mayoften be confidential. PII includes any information which uniquelyidentifies the customer, such as the customer's e-mail address, socialsecurity number (SSN), mobile phone number, customer's name, mailingaddress, date of birth, and the like. The customer's PII may be subjectto privacy regulations, or the marketer may have a contractualobligation not to disclose its customers' PII. Further, marketers maydecide not to share their customers' PII with other entities due tobusiness considerations irrespective of regulations or contractualobligations. For example, the marketer may want to be viewed as anorganization that maintains a high level of customer privacy.

SUMMARY

In particular embodiments, the present invention provides methods,systems and computer program products for targeting users foradvertising and other content based on ZIP+4 parameters. In one method,the method receives at a server, one or more content objects and one ormore ZIP+4 codes as targeting parameters for the one or more contentobjects. The method retrieves personal information of a plurality ofusers. The method then identifies one or more of the plurality of userslocated in geographic areas corresponding to the one or more ZIP+4 codesbased, at least in part, on the personal information. Subsequently, themethod targets a content object of the one or more content objects tothe one or more of the plurality of users based on the identifiedgeographic areas of the users and the ZIP+4 codes associated withcorresponding ones of the one or more content objects.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example network environment in which particularimplementations may operate;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for targetingcontent to users, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for targeting usersfor content provision, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for retrievingZIP+4 codes for targeted content delivery, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for selectingtargeted ads; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example computing systemfor targeting users for content provision according to one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the present invention will be described in detailbelow with reference to accompanying drawings. It will be apparent,however, that these embodiments may be practiced without some or all ofthese specific details. In other instances, well known process steps orelements have not been described in detail in order not to unnecessarilyobscure the description of the invention. The following exampleembodiments and their aspects are described and illustrated inconjunction with apparatuses, methods, and systems which are meant to beillustrative examples, not limiting in scope.

Particular embodiments of the present invention provide methods, systemsand computer program products for targeting users for content provision.In one method, the method receives at a server, one or more ZIP+4 codes.The method accesses personal information of a plurality of users. Themethod then identifies one or more of the plurality of users located ingeographic areas corresponding to the one or more ZIP+4 codes based, atleast in part, on the personal information. Subsequently, the methodcompiles a target user list using the personal information; wherein thetarget user list comprises user identifiers of the one or more users.

Example Network Environment

FIG. 1 illustrates an implementation of a network environment 100 inwhich particular implementations of the invention may be deployedaccording to one embodiment. Network environment 100 includes a networkbased service provider 102, one or more information furnishers 112, oneor more client nodes 114, one or more marketers 116 and a network 118.Network based service provider 102 includes a registration andauthentication server 104, one or more application servers 106, a userinformation database 108, and a ZIP+4 targeting system 110. Network 118generally represents one or more interconnected networks, over whichnetwork based service provider 102, information furnisher 112, andclient node(s) 114 can communicate with each other. Network 118 mayinclude packet-based wide area networks (such as the Internet), localarea networks (LAN), private networks, wireless networks, satellitenetworks, cellular networks, paging networks, and the like. A personskilled in the art will recognize that network 118 may also be acombination of more than one type of network. For example, network 118may be a combination of a LAN and the Internet. In addition, network 118may be implemented as a wired network, or a wireless network or acombination thereof. Client node(s) 114 are communicatively coupled tonetwork 118 via a network service provider or any other suitable methodsknown in the art.

Network Based Service Provider

Network based service provider 102 is a network addressable system thathosts an online service accessible over network 118, to one or moreusers using client node(s) 114. In various embodiments, the onlineservice may be a search engine, a news service, a content sharingservice, an e-mail service, a blog website, a social networking service,a business networking service, an online job portal, a news provider, anentertainment provider, an e-shopping website (such as online stores),an e-banking or e-finance website, an e-health website, a Usenetservice, and the like. In other words, the online service may be anyservice that allows the users to register with network based serviceprovider 102 to use the online service.

The registration and authentication server 104 facilitates registrationof new users to the network application, and authenticates existingusers at sign-in. Registration and authentication server 104 may providea registration web form to users wishing to register for the onlineservice(s). The registration web form may prompt the user to select adesired user identifier and to provide personal information such as, butnot limited to, a first name, a last name, a gender, a zip code, a ZIP+4code and an address of the user. The user identifier may be an emailaddress, a username, a screen name, a user identity (ID), an open IDUniform Resource Locator (URL) and an alias name and the like. In someembodiments, the registration and authentication server 104 usessecurity protocols such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), Transport LayerSecurity (TLS) or GnuTLS. Registration and authentication server 104then provisions user identifiers to users that register with the onlineservice hosted by network based service provider 102. Registration andauthentication server 104 stores the personal information of the userand the user identifier provisioned to the user in user informationdatabase 108. Database 108 may be implemented using any known databasesolution such as a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS), anExtensible Markup Language (XML) database, a flat file database, and thelike.

One or more application server(s) 106 host web pages and applicationsimplemented using Common Gateway Interface script (CGI), PHP: Hyper-textProcessor (PHP), Active Server Pages (ASP), Hyper Text Markup Language(HTML), Extensible Markup Language (XML), Java and the like. Applicationserver(s) 106 provide network application access to client node(s) 114after registration and authentication at registration and authenticationserver 104.

In various embodiments, application server(s) 106 may present targetedcontent to the users. The targeted content may be presented to the userson the web pages associated with the online service(s) hosted by networkbased service provider 102, or in communication such as email and onlinenewsletters sent by network based service provider 102. The content maybe targeted based on criteria such as, but not limited to, demographiccriteria, psychographic criteria, behavioral criteria, geographiccriteria and technographic criteria. In some embodiments, the targetedcontent is advertising or promotional content.

ZIP+4 Targeting System

ZIP+4 targeting system 110 provides targeting mechanisms for presentingtargeted content to the users. ZIP+4 targeting system 110 uses the userregistration information stored in user information database 108 toprovide the targeted content to the users. Particularly, ZIP+4 targetingsystem 110 uses the ZIP+4 codes of the users stored in the userinformation database 108 to provide targeted content to the users. Inthe case that the ZIP+4 of the user is not available in the userinformation database 108, ZIP+4 targeting system 110 obtains the ZIP+4code of the user from information furnisher(s) 112. ZIP+4 targetingsystem 110 may use the user's personal information such as address,city, state, and zip code to retrieve the ZIP+4 code of the user. Theuser's address is required to retrieve the ZIP+4 code of the user. Insome embodiments when the user's address is not available, ZIP+4targeting system 110 may use the user's personal information such asname, last name, city, state, company name, and zip code to retrieve theuser's address from information furnisher(s) 112. ZIP+4 targeting system110 may then use the retrieved address to retrieve the ZIP+4 code fromthe same or another information furnisher(s) 112. The retrieved ZIP+4code of the user is appended to the user's personal information in theuser information database 108.

In various embodiments, ZIP+4 targeting system 110 may include a privacyprotection module (not shown in the figure). The privacy protectionmodule notifies the user of the retrieval of the user's ZIP+4 code frominformation furnisher(s) 112, using of the user's personal information.The privacy protection module may also present an option to the user, toopt out of the ZIP+4 code append process. In some embodiments, ZIP+4targeting system 110 may retrieve the user's address, city, state, zipcode or ZIP+4 code from other online services that the user hassubscribed to. ZIP+4 targeting system 110 may require authorization fromthe user to obtain such information from the other online services. Inan embodiment, network based service provider 102 implements a widget toobtain the personal information of the user. The user may activate thewidget, select the other online services that the user has subscribedto, and authorize network based service provider 102 to obtain thepersonal information of the user from the other online services.

ZIP+4 targeting system 110 utilizes the ZIP+4 codes to anonymouslytarget users for content provision. The use of ZIP+4 codes, as atargeting method, may not be as accurate as household level targeting.However, the use of ZIP+4 codes ensures that no personally identifiableinformation of the users is exchanged with marketer(s) 116 andinformation furnisher(s) 112, for targeted content provision.

In some embodiments, ZIP+4 targeting system 110 uses a list of ZIP+4codes as the input for providing targeted content to the users. In suchembodiments, ZIP+4 targeting system 110 functions as an online extensionto the direct mail marketing campaign of marketer(s) 116. Marketer(s)116 may already have a direct mail marketing campaign in place and maywish to employ the direct mail marketing campaign for online users.Marketer(s) 116 send the ZIP+4 codes, corresponding to the targetaudience of the direct mail marketing campaign, to ZIP+4 targetingsystem 110.

In other embodiments, ZIP+4 targeting system 110 may receive targetingcriteria such as demographic segments, psychographic segments,behavioral segments, and technographic segments from marketer(s) 116.ZIP+4 targeting system 110 may then send the targeting criteria toinformation furnisher(s) 112, to retrieve ZIP+4 codes satisfying thetargeting criteria. ZIP+4 targeting system 110 may also receive a matchthreshold from marketer(s) 116. The match threshold is an indication ofa minimum number of households or individuals in each ZIP+4 coderequired to satisfy the targeting criteria. ZIP+4 targeting system 110may send the match threshold along with the targeting criteria toinformation furnisher(s) 112, to retrieve ZIP+4 codes satisfying thetargeting criteria and confirming to the match threshold. The matchthreshold represents a precision-reach tradeoff of the segmentationmodel. The match threshold indicates the level of precision or the levelof reach required for providing targeted content. For example, consideran insurance product targeted at households or individuals having ahousehold income exceeding $150,000. A high precision marketsegmentation including ZIP+4 codes with four households having ahousehold income exceeding $150,000, would reach a smaller number ofusers as compared to a low precision market segmentation including ZIP+4codes with two or more households having a household income exceeding$150,000. An example process for retrieving ZIP+4 codes from informationfurnisher(s) 112 using the targeting criteria is described inconjunction with FIG. 3.

In an embodiment, ZIP+4 targeting system 110 may receive an actual matchnumber from information furnisher(s) 112, for each ZIP+4 code satisfyingthe targeting criteria. The actual match number is the actual number ofhouseholds or individuals in each ZIP+4 code satisfying the targetingcriteria. A data refinement module (not shown in the figure) implementedby network based service provider 102 may then identify from among thereceived ZIP+4 codes, the ZIP+4 codes for which the actual match numberis equal to or exceeds the match threshold. The data refinement modulethen sends the identified ZIP+4 codes to ZIP+4 targeting system 110 forfurther processing.

ZIP+4 targeting system 110 receives ZIP+4 codes from informationfurnisher(s) 112 or marketer(s) 116, depending on the implementationscenario. ZIP+4 targeting system 110 also receives one or more contentobjects to be presented to the users. The content object may be, withoutlimitation, an image, text, an animated banners such as Flash™ object ora Graphic Interchange Format (GIF) image, videos, sound clips, a webpage and a Universal Resource Locator (URL). In an embodiment, thecontent objects may have metadata associated with the content objects.The metadata may be used to indicate the context of the content objector the subject matter of the content object. ZIP+4 targeting system 110then identifies the users residing in geographic areas corresponding tothe received ZIP+4 codes. ZIP+4 targeting system 110 uses the personalinformation of the users stored in the user information database 108 toidentify the users residing in the ZIP+4 codes. ZIP+4 targeting system110 may use any database querying technique known in the art, such as,but not limited to, Structure Query Language (SQL). ZIP+4 targetingsystem 110 then compiles a target user list containing the useridentifiers of the identified users. The user identifiers may include anemail address, a username, a screen name, a user identity (ID), an openID Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and an alias name.

Subsequently, ZIP+4 targeting system 110 associates the target user listwith the content objects. In some embodiments, ZIP+4 targeting system110 may receive the ZIP+4 codes as targeting parameters for the contentobjects, from marketer(s) 116. ZIP+4 targeting system 110 may thendirectly associate the content objects with the user identifiers in thetarget user list. In other embodiments, ZIP+4 targeting system 110 mayuse the correlation between the targeting criteria received frommarketer(s) 116 and the ZIP+4 codes received from informationfurnisher(s) 112 to associate the content objects to the ZIP+4 codes.ZIP+4 targeting system 110 may then associate the same content objectsto the users in the same ZIP+4 code. ZIP+4 targeting system 110 may usethe metadata of the content objects to associate the target user listwith the content objects.

Information Furnishers

Information furnisher(s) 112 are sources that may possess informationassociated with users and/or ZIP+4 codes. Information furnisher(s) 112may include, without limitation, publicly available sources such as theUnited States Bureau of Labor Statistics, consumer reporting agenciessuch as Experian, postal code databases such as the United States PostalService zip code database, and the like. Publicly available informationfurnisher(s) 112 may posses information such as, but not limited to,geographic information such as ZIP+4 codes of the users; demographicinformation including, occupation, socio-economic status; psychographicinformation such as sporting and entertainment interests, information onpets owned, travel and leisure trip information, hi-tech goods owned orinterested in, vehicles owned or interested in, information related touse of beauty and cosmetic products, charities supported, and the like;behavioral information such as purchasing behavior of users, brandloyalty, media consumption behavior such as TV viewing, news mediasubscriptions, and the like; attitudinal information such as distinctiveattitudes, traits and motivations of the users; technologicalinformation such as technology usage patterns, attitudes abouttechnology and so forth. Publicly available information furnisher(s) 112may posses possess information at a household level or at an individuallevel. Information furnisher(s) 112 may identify households orindividuals satisfying the targeting criteria received from ZIP+4targeting system 110. Information furnisher(s) 112 may then send theZIP+4 codes of the identified households or individuals, to ZIP+4targeting system 110. Information furnisher(s) 112 may also send anumber of households or individuals in each of the ZIP+4 codes thatsatisfy the targeting criteria, to ZIP+4 targeting system 110.

Information furnisher(s) 112 may also include other online servicesincluding, but not limited to, online job portals such as Yahoo!HotJobs®, social networking websites such as LinkedIn® and Facebook®.Such online services may posses information such as the address of theuser that may be used to identify the user's ZIP+4 code, informationabout the user's interests and hobbies, the user's academic and careerpath and objectives, and the like. In various embodiments, the users mayneed to authorize ZIP+4 targeting system 110 to obtain the personalinformation from information furnisher(s) 112.

Client Nodes

Client node(s) 114 is a computing device from which a user accesses theservices provided by the network based service provider 102. Clientnode(s) 114 has the capability to communicate over network 118. Clientnode(s) 114 further has the capability to provide the user an interfaceto interact with the service provided by network based service provider102. Client node(s) 114 may be, for example, a desktop computer, alaptop computer, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, and thelike. A client node may execute one or more client applications such as,without limitation, a web browser to access and view content over acomputer network, an email client to send and retrieve emails, aninstant messaging client for communicating with other users, and a FileTransfer Protocol (FTP) client for file transfer. Client node(s) 114, invarious embodiments, may include a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)browser or other wireless or mobile device protocol suites such as,without limitation, NTT DoCoMo's i-mode wireless network serviceprotocol suites, EDGE, and the like.

Marketers

Marketer(s) 116 are entities that wish to promote, market or advertisethe products and/or services offered by the entities. Marketer(s) 116may have a direct mail marketing campaign in place, and may utilizeZIP+4 targeting system 110 as an online extension to the direct mailmarketing campaign. Embodiments of the invention described herein allowmarketer(s) 116 to specify targeting criteria using ZIP+4 codes. Forexample, marketer(s) 116 based on their own analysis or research mayknow what types of users it(they) wish to target, but may not (or cannot) share the actual identities of those users with a third partyadvertising or content targeting system. Accordingly, marketer(s) 116,in some implementations, provide ZIP+4 codes as targeting parameters inassociation with one or more content objects, such as banner ads and thelike. Marketer(s) 116 may also provide the match threshold to ZIP+4targeting system 110, to have a specific degree of precision or aspecific level of reach of the marketing campaign. Marketer(s) 116 maypay fees to network based service provider 102, for the use of ZIP+4targeting system 110. Any payment model such as, but not limited to,pay-per-click, pay-per-view, flat fee, and the like, known in the art,may be used for paying the fees.

Although FIG. 1 illustrates the foregoing systems as separate systems,the functionality represented by each system may be combined into othersystems. Furthermore, the functionality represented by each depictedsystem may be further separated. Still further, implementations of thepresent invention may operate in network environments that includemultiples of one or more of the individual systems and sites disclosedherein. In addition, other implementations may operate in networkenvironments where one or more of the systems described herein have beenomitted.

Process

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process 200 fortargeting content to users.

At step 202, ZIP+4 targeting system 110 receives one or more contentobjects and one or more ZIP+4 codes as targeting parameters for the oneor more content objects. ZIP+4 targeting system 110 may receive thecontent objects from marketer(s) 116. The content objects may be withoutlimitation, image, text, animated banners such as Flash™, videos andsound clips. ZIP+4 targeting system 110 may receive the content objectsby various methods, such as, but not limited to, File Transfer Protocol(FTP) transfers, direct upload to the network based service provider102's servers, and the like. Depending on the implementation scenario,ZIP+4 targeting system 110 may receive the ZIP+4 codes from marketer(s)116 or from information furnisher(s) 112. ZIP+4 targeting system 110 mayreceive the ZIP+4 codes in one of various digital file formats such as,but not limited to, Comma Separated Values (CSV), Tab separated datafile (TAB), Data Interchange Format (DIF), a Data file (DAT), aspreadsheet, a text file (TXT), and the like. ZIP+4 targeting system 110may also have a proprietary digital file format for receiving the ZIP+4codes. Further, the digital file may be encrypted using encryptiontechniques known in the art, to enhance the security of ZIP+4 targetingsystem 110. In various embodiments, the ZIP+4 codes may be in the formatof a five digit ZIP code followed by a four digit ZIP+4 code. The ZIPcode and ZIP+4 code may or may not be separated by a separator such as ahyphen. Subsequent to receiving the digital file, ZIP+4 targeting system110 may decrypt the digital file, extract and load the ZIP+4 codes intoZIP+4 targeting system 110, to compose queries for searching userinformation database 108.

At step 204, ZIP+4 targeting system 110 retrieves the personalinformation of a plurality of users from user information database 108.ZIP+4 targeting system 110 may use any database querying technique knownin the art, such as using SQL to identify and retrieve the personalinformation of all users that have not opted out of the ZIP+4 targetingprocess, and for whom ZIP+4 codes are known by ZIP+4 targeting system110.

At step 206, ZIP+4 targeting system 110 identifies the users located ingeographic areas corresponding to the received ZIP+4 codes. ZIP+4targeting system 110 may query user information database 108, toidentify the users located in the ZIP+4 codes. ZIP+4 targeting system110 uses the ZIP+4 codes as values of an argument in the query to searchuser information database 108. The query may be designed to search inthe ZIP code field or ZIP+4 code field of user information database 108.

At step 208, ZIP+4 targeting system 110 targets a content object of theone or more content objects to the one or more of the plurality of usersbased on the identified geographic areas of the users and the ZIP+4codes associated with corresponding ones of the one or more contentobjects. In other words, ZIP+4 targeting system 110 may map the contentobjects received in step 202 to the users identified in step 206, basedon the commonality between the ZIP+4 codes received as targetingparameters of the content objects and the ZIP+4 codes associated withthe geographic areas of the users.

Subsequent to the process described above, ZIP+4 targeting system 110may provide the content objects to the users of the online serviceshosted by network based service provider 102. An example process 500 ofproviding the content objects to the users is described in conjunctionwith FIG. 5.

In the exemplary process described above, separate database queries areused at each step of the process. However, a person skilled in the artwill appreciate that the above exemplary process may also be implementedby combining one or more of the separate queries.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process 300 fortargeting users for content delivery.

At step 302, ZIP+4 targeting system 110 receives one or more contentobjects and one or more ZIP+4 codes as targeting parameters for the oneor more content objects, similar to step 202 of process 200 fortargeting content to users described in conjunction with FIG. 2.

At step 304, ZIP+4 targeting system 110 retrieves the personalinformation of a plurality of users from user information database 108,similar to step 204 of process 200 for targeting content to usersdescribed in conjunction with FIG. 2.

At step 306, ZIP+4 targeting system 110 identifies the users located ingeographic areas corresponding to the received ZIP+4 codes, similar tostep 206 of process 200 for targeting content to users described inconjunction with FIG. 2.

At step 308, ZIP+4 targeting system 110 compiles a target user listusing the personal information of the users identified in step 306. Thetarget user list contains the user identifiers of the identified usersand the ZIP+4 codes corresponding to the geographic location of theidentified users. In some embodiments, ZIP+4 targeting system 110 maycompile multiple target user lists—one for each ZIP+4 code. The targetuser list may be in one of various digital file formats such as, but notlimited to, CSV, TAB, DIF, DAT, TXT, a spreadsheet, and the like. Thetarget user list may also have a proprietary digital file format. Thedigital file format of the target user list may be chosen to allowcompatibility with existing content targeting systems used by networkbased service provider 102.

At step 310, ZIP+4 targeting system 110 associates the target user listwith the one or more content objects. ZIP+4 targeting system 110 mayassociate the users in the same ZIP+4 code with the same contentobjects. In an embodiment, ZIP+4 targeting system 110 may generate acontent targeting list. The content targeting list may include thetarget user list along with the content objects associated with each ofthe user identifiers in the target user list.

Subsequent to the process described above, ZIP+4 targeting system 110may provide the content objects to the users of the online serviceshosted by network based service provider 102. An example process 500 ofproviding the content objects to the users is described in conjunctionwith FIG. 5.

In the exemplary process described above, separate database queries areused at each step of the process. However, a person skilled in the artwill appreciate that the above exemplary process may also be implementedby combining one or more of the separate queries.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process 400 forretrieving ZIP+4 codes for targeted content delivery. Marketer(s) 116not having a direct mail marketing campaign in place, or wishing totarget certain market segments but not having ZIP+4 codes mapped ontothe market segments, may send one or more targeting criteria to ZIP+4targeting system 110.

At step 402, ZIP+4 targeting system 110 receives one or more targetingcriteria. The targeting criteria may include market segments such as,but not limited to, demographic segments, psychographic segments,behavioral segments, and technographic segments. Exemplary targetingcriteria may include, without limitation, “individuals earning between$100,000 and $150,000 annually”, “individuals travelling to foreigncountries at least once every year”, “individuals that own dogs”,“individuals buying Polo Ralph Lauren™ apparel”, “individuals usingportable electronic media players”, and so forth.

At step 404, ZIP+4 targeting system 110 receives the match threshold,i.e. an indication of the minimum number of individuals required tosatisfy the targeting criteria. The match threshold may be a number ofhouseholds or individuals satisfying the targeting criteria, a ratio ofhouseholds or individuals satisfying the targeting criteria to the totalnumber of households or individuals in the ZIP+4 code, or a percentageof the number of households or individuals satisfying the targetingcriteria.

At step 406, ZIP+4 targeting system 110 sends the targeting criteria toinformation furnisher(s) 112. Information furnisher(s) 112 may thencorrelate the received targeting criteria to one or more ZIP+4 codes.ZIP+4 targeting system 110 may optionally send the received matchthreshold, to information furnisher(s) 112. In this case, informationfurnisher(s) 112 may correlate the received targeting criteria, to oneor more ZIP+4 codes, in conformance with the match threshold.Information furnisher(s) 112 may then send the one or more ZIP+4 codesto ZIP+4 targeting system 110.

At step 408, ZIP+4 targeting system 110 receives one or more ZIP+4 codescorresponding to the targeting criteria, from information furnisher(s)112. ZIP+4 targeting system 110 may also receive the actual matchnumber, i.e. the number of households or individuals matching thetargeting criteria in each ZIP+4 code identified by informationfurnisher(s) 112. In the case that ZIP+4 targeting system 110 does notsend the match threshold to information furnisher(s) 112, ZIP+4targeting system 110 may select from the received one or more ZIP+4codes, the ZIP+4 codes conforming with the match threshold, by comparingthe match threshold and actual match numbers. ZIP+4 targeting system 110selects the ZIP+4 codes having actual match numbers equal to orexceeding the match threshold.

Content Object Delivery

Subsequent to compiling the target user list and associating the targetuser list with the content objects, ZIP+4 targeting system 110 maycommunicate with an ad server to present the content objects to theusers, according to one embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an exampleprocess 500 for selecting the content objects to be presented to theusers.

At step 502, a web server of network based service provider 102 receivesa request for a web page from a user. The request may be a standard HTTPrequest. The web server may also retrieve the user identifier of theuser from the request for the web page. In some embodiments, the requestincludes a session identifier. The session identifier is used toidentify a particular web session of the user. In other embodiments,cookies may store the user identifier of the user and may be used toidentify the user. The web server may pass the user identifier to an adserver. In various embodiments, the ad server may have the target userlist and the associated content objects stored thereon.

At step 504, the ad server looks up the target user list and determineswhether the received user identifier is present in the target user list.

Responsive to determining that the received user identifier is presentin the target user list, the ad server identifies, at step 506, thecontent objects associated with the user identifier. In an embodiment,the ad server may identify the content objects associated with the useridentifier using the content targeting list. The ad server may identifymultiple content objects associated with the user identifier.

At step 508, the ad server may optionally perform content objectselection in the scenario that the ad server identified multiple contentobjects associated with the user identifier. The ad server may performcontent object selection using any techniques for content targetingknown in the art. For example, the ad server may select content objectsbased on the context or information of the web page. The ad server mayselect content objects in a sequential order, to provide substantiallyequal exposure to the content objects. The ad server may also selectcontent objects based on the bid value of the content object in apay-per-click or pay-per-view type of advertising model.

At step 510, after identifying the content objects associated with theuser identifier, and the optional content object selection, the adserver presents the selected content objects to the user, on the webpage requested by the user.

ZIP+4 Targeting System Architecture

FIG. 6 illustrates an example hardware system 600 to implement ZIP+4targeting system 110 according to one embodiment. Hardware system 600includes at least one processor 602, a system memory 604, and massstorage 606. The system memory 604 has stored therein one or moreapplication software, programming instructions 608 for implementingZIP+4 targeting system 110, an operating system and drivers directed tothe functions described herein. Mass storage 606 provides permanentstorage for the data and programming instructions 608 for ZIP+4targeting system 110, whereas system memory 604 (e.g., DRAM) providestemporary storage for the data and programming instructions whenexecuted by processor 602. The process flow of the programminginstructions 608 for ZIP+4 targeting system 110 is described in detailin conjunction with FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. In on embodiment, user informationdatabase 108 may reside in mass storage 606. A network/communicationinterface 610 provides communication between hardware system 600 and anyof a wide range of networks, such as an Ethernet (e.g., IEEE 802.3)network, etc. Additionally, hardware system 600 includes a highperformance input/output (I/O) bus 612 and a standard I/O bus 614.System memory 604 and network/communication interface 610 are coupled tobus 612. Mass storage 606 is coupled to bus 614. I/O Bus Bridge 616couples the two buses 612 and 614 to each other.

In one embodiment, process 200, process 300 and process 400 describedherein are implemented as a series of software routines run by hardwaresystem 600. These software routines comprise a plurality or series ofinstructions to be executed by a processor in a hardware system, such asprocessor 602. Initially, the series of instructions are stored on astorage device, such as mass storage 606. However, the series ofinstructions can be stored on any suitable storage medium, such as adiskette, CD-ROM, ROM, EEPROM, DVD, Blu-ray disk, etc. Furthermore, theseries of instructions need not be stored locally, and could be receivedfrom a remote storage device, such as server on a network, vianetwork/communication interface 610. The instructions are copied fromthe storage device, such as mass storage 606, into system memory 604 andthen accessed and executed by processor 602.

In one embodiment, hardware system 600 may also include I/O ports 618, akeyboard and pointing device 620, a display 622 coupled to bus 612. I/Oports 618 are one or more serial and/or parallel communication portsthat provide communication between additional peripheral devices, whichmay be coupled to hardware system 600. A host bridge 624 couplesprocessor 602 to high performance I/O interface 610. Hardware system 600may further include video memory (not shown) and a display devicecoupled to the video memory. Collectively, these elements are intendedto represent a broad category of computer hardware systems, includingbut not limited to general purpose computer systems based on thex86-compatible processors manufactured by Intel Corporation of SantaClara, Calif., and the x86-compatible processors manufactured byAdvanced Micro Devices (AMD), Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., as well as anyother suitable processor.

Hardware system 600 may include a variety of system architectures; andvarious components of hardware system 600 may be rearranged. Forexample, cache 626 may be on-chip with processor 602. Alternatively,cache 626 and processor 602 may be packed together as a “processormodule,” with processor 602 being referred to as the “processor core.”Furthermore, certain embodiments of the present invention may notrequire nor include all of the above components. For example, theperipheral devices shown coupled to standard I/O bus 612 may couple tohigh performance I/O interface 610. In addition, in some embodimentsonly a single bus may exist with the components of hardware system 600being coupled to the single bus. Furthermore, hardware system 600 mayinclude additional components, such as additional processors, storagedevices, or memories.

An operating system manages and controls the operation of hardwaresystem 600, including the input and output of data to and from softwareapplications (not shown). The operating system provides an interfacebetween the software applications being executed on the system and thehardware components of the system. According to one embodiment of thepresent invention, the operating system is the LINUX operating system.However, the present invention may be used with other suitable operatingsystems, such as the Windows® 95/98/NT/XP/Server operating system,available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., the AppleMacintosh Operating System, available from Apple Computer Int. ofCupertino, Calif., UNIX operating systems, and the like.

The present invention has been explained with reference to specificembodiments. For example, while embodiments of the present inventionhave been described with reference to specific hardware and softwarecomponents, those skilled in the art will appreciate that differentcombinations of hardware and/or software components may also be used,and that particular operations described as being implemented inhardware might also be implemented in software or vice versa. Otherembodiments will be evident to those of ordinary skill in the art. It istherefore not intended that the present invention be limited, except asindicated by the appended claims.

1. A system comprising: a network addressable content targeting module; a user information database in communication with the module; and a network interface in communication with the module, providing access to a network; wherein the module is configured to: receive one or more content objects; receive one or more targeting criteria; send the one or more targeting criteria to an information furnisher via the network interface; responsive to sending the one or more targeting criteria, receive via the network interface one or more ZIP+4 codes corresponding to the targeting criteria; retrieve, from the user information database, personal information of a plurality of users; identify one or more of the plurality of users located in geographic areas corresponding to the one or more ZIP+4 codes based, at least in part, on the personal information; compile a target user list using the personal information and based on the one or more ZIP+4 codes; wherein the target user list comprises user identifiers of the one or more users; and associate the target user list with the one or more content objects by mapping the content objects to the user identifiers of the one or more users.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the user identifier is one of an email address, a username, a screen name, a user identity (ID) an open ID Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and an alias name.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the content object is one of an image, text, a video, a sound clip, an animated graphics interchange format (GIF) object, a flash object, a web page and a URL.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the network addressable content targeting module is further configured to present the one or more content objects to the users comprised in the target user list based on the association of the target user list with the one or more content objects.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more ZIP+4 codes comprise at least a minimum number of individuals satisfying the one or more targeting criteria.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the network addressable content targeting module is further configured to: receive an indication of the minimum number of individuals required to satisfy the one or more targeting criteria in each of the one or more ZIP+4 codes; and send the indication to the information furnisher.
 7. The system of claim 5, wherein the targeting criteria is one or more of demographic criteria, psychographic criteria, behavioral criteria and geographic criteria.
 8. A method comprising: receiving, at a network addressable content targeting module, one or more content objects and one or more targeting criteria; sending the one or more targeting criteria to an information furnisher via a network interface; receiving, via the network interface, responsive to sending the one or more targeting criteria, one or more ZIP+4 codes corresponding to the targeting criteria; retrieving, from a user information database, personal information of a plurality of users; identifying one or more of the plurality of users located in geographic areas corresponding to the one or more ZIP+4 codes based, at least in part, on the personal information; compiling a target user list using the personal information and based on the one or more ZIP+4 codes; wherein the target user list comprises user identifiers of the one or more users; and associating the target user list with the one or more content objects by mapping the content objects to the user identifiers of the one or more users.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the user identifier is one of an email address, a username, a screen name, a user identity (ID), an open ID Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and an alias name.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the content object is one of an image, text, a video, a sound clip, an animated graphics interchange format (GIF) object, a flash object, a web page and a URL.
 11. The method of claim 8 further comprising presenting the one or more content objects to the users comprised in the target user list based on the association of the target user list with the one or more content objects.
 12. The method of claim 8, wherein each of the one or more ZIP+4 codes comprise at least a minimum number of individuals satisfying the one or more targeting criteria.
 13. The method of claim 12 further comprising: receiving, at the network addressable content targeting module, an indication of the minimum number of individuals required to satisfy the one or more targeting criteria in each of the one or more ZIP+4 codes; and sending the indication to the information furnisher.
 14. The method of claim 12, wherein the targeting criteria is one or more of demographic criteria, psychographic criteria, behavioral criteria and geographic criteria.
 15. The method of claim 8, wherein mapping the content objects to the user identifiers of the one or more users is based on a commonality between the one or more ZIP+4 codes as targeting parameters and one or more ZIP+4 codes associated with the geographic areas of users.
 16. The method of claim 8, further comprising selecting the content objects based on a context of the content objects indicated by metadata associated with the content objects and context of a web page requested by the user.
 17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium tangibly storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to: receive one or more content objects; receive one or more targeting criteria; send the one or more targeting criteria to an information furnisher; responsive to sending the one or more targeting criteria, receive one or more ZIP+4 codes corresponding to the targeting criteria; retrieve, from a database, personal information of a plurality of users; identify one or more of the plurality of users located in geographic areas corresponding to the one or more ZIP+4 codes based, at least in part, on the personal information; compile a target user list using the personal information and based on the one or more ZIP+4 codes; wherein the target user list comprises user identifiers of the one or more users; and associate the target user list with the one or more content objects by mapping the content objects to the user identifiers of the one or more users.
 18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the user identifier is one of an email address, a username, a screen name, a user identity (ID), an open ID Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and an alias name.
 19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the content object is one of an image, text, a video, a sound clip, an animated graphics interchange format (GIF) object, a flash object, a web page and a URL.
 20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 further comprising computer-executable instructions operable to cause the one or more processors to present the one or more content objects to the users comprised in the target user list based on the association of the target user list with the one or more content objects. 